Build the Church Fellowship Around Christ
This seems so obvious. How could we miss a point like this? Yet, so many fellowships miss it almost all the time and virtually all fellowships miss it at least some of the time. It takes intentionally to keep the focus on Christ.
This doesn't mean that we shouldn't have fellowship dinners or ball teams or "events." All of those things are part of life and the local church should be a vital participant in life. Church does create special moments and spaces but it is too easy for the church and all it represents to become this separate entity that isn't really related to where we live. Therefore, I don't think God minds at all when regular life becomes a part of our body life in the church. In fact, I think He rather intends for it to be that way. The idea is to create a paradigm where Christ is central to everything we do. Whether something looks or feels religious is completely irrelevant. Christ did not come so that we might have religion more abundantly, but that we might have life more abundantly.
A couple of examples from my past should serve to illustrate where we get off track.
When I "returned" to the Lord back in 1975 I was especially excited about the possibility of leading my friend Steve to Christ. The church I attended had a pretty dynamic preacher and I figured if I could get Steve to come to church with me... well, you know, it would just happen. The day came when Steve finally agreed to attend church with me. Everything was going well until the sermon. Steve was not only a sinner, he was a liberal. He had protested the Viet Nam War. He was a poet, and the kind of poet whose poems did not always rhyme. Nevertheless, I suspected that Christ likely died on the cross for Steve in spite of these grievous shortcomings. On this particular Sunday the pastor somehow felt let to spend a few minutes venting against "draft dodgers" and "hippies." He got a lot of "Amens." He also guaranteed that Steve would not hear anything else he had to say. Politics will shift a congregation's focus off of Christ about as fast as anything you can imagine; yet, many congregations openly embrace political involvement.
In the early 80's I attended The Lord's Chapel in Brentwood. It was a happening church and this was a happening time. At one point we decided to hold a monthly Praise Gathering for any local churches that wanted to be involved. We would use our building but rotate the worship leadership among the various fellowships and have a different pastor speak each month. The first few months were great! Our only agenda was to exalt Christ. The place was packed and the presence of the Lord was thick. But then the month came when the pastor bringing the message informed us that God wanted us to go down on lower Broad and clean out all the prostution and evil going on down there. Before you knew it we had organized a march, recorded some radio spots, and set in motion a movement. I'll cut to the chase. We marched. We didn't clean out lower Broad. We did manage to kill the monthly Praise Gathering.
It's an old saying but quite true. The enemy of Great is not Bad. The enemy of Great is Good. There are many "good" things we can do, but they must be kept in perspective. Nothing is qualified to be central to the Church, or to the life of a believer, except Christ.
As a pastor I believe a big part of my job is to guard that central focus of the Church. That place belongs to Christ. No matter how good, or right seeming, a thing may be it cannot be allowed to compete for that central spot. Our unique calling, our methods, our measures of fruitfulness, our style; all of these are just things and they must all acknowledge and point to the center. Miracles are not the center. Statistics are not the center. Doctrine is not the center. Causes are not the center. Evangelism is not the center. Programs are not the center. (This space available for any sacred cow) is not the center. All of these things are, or can be, important, but they cannot be the center. The center must be Christ.
1 comment:
I truly believe that as long as Christ IS the center point of the church as a whole and the individual’s life as well, then the fruit will speak for itself and the gifts will begin to move into their proper order, God's desired order. I'm reminded even today that so many people want to SEE things happen in the church or SEE God do miraculous movements but without the Christ centered focus how can we? With Christ as a center focus, those things that we want to see are not outwardly. True they may show manifestations in the physical or outward realm but they are really an experience within. With Christ as the center focus then all else flows out from that center point. All of those "THINGS" we want to see come alive and are seen through the eyes of those focused on Christ. Because as we are focused on Christ He reveals himself in marvelous ways. We get so caught up in trying to figure it all out and get something to happen or see something happen or for that matter, expect our leaders to make or allow it to happen, we miss God entirely. Feels to me like people judge a body when they don't see the things they think should be happening and where is the faith in that. Where is the focus? Certainly not God or Christ centered. KK
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